EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou yesterday bemoaned the lack of Cypriot presence in Brussels-based events, even when the EU offers to pay for them. Vassiliou said she felt “truly saddened” by the “empty chair” phenomenon, referring specifically to the lack of Cypriot participation in the latest EU Youth Health Conference which took place in Brussels the last two days. To save face, the commissioner said she had to scramble to find two Cypriot Commission interns based in Brussels to attend the conference on behalf of Cyprus.
“During this conference, the youth dealt with all those issues that contribute to bad health, such as alcohol, smoking, obesity, HIV/AIDS, mental health. And we wanted to hear from young people themselves about the measures they propose to help the youth for all these issues,” she said.
The Cypriot Commissioner said she was deeply disappointed when she discovered that Cyprus was not going to be represented.
“It was a very big disappointment when I discovered that we had no Cypriot youth participation. Nobody came from the Youth Organisation and this really saddens me.”
According to Vassiliou, the EU asked the Cyprus Youth Organisation to send four youth to the conference, all expenses paid, but in return, they got no answer and no Cypriot youth.
“They didn’t send anyone. In the end, I had to find two Cypriot interns (from the Commission) and send them to have some participation because it is really very sad,” she said.
“When we talk about Cyprus and the empty chair, people think we’re only talking about the participation of ministers or MEPs. But this applies to all. When the EU calls you, pays the costs, and you don’t respond, you don’t turn up, what does this mean, that you’re not interested, that you’re isolating yourself,” she added.
For its part, Youth Organisation representative Thrasyvolos Thrasyvoulou said they had no idea about the conference and had never received an invite.
“We never received any invite, either through normal mail or electronic,” he said. Thrasyvoulou said the organisation was waiting for clarifications from Cyprus’ Permanent Representation in Brussels on the whole procedure for applying to the Youth Conference.
